Fancy Focaccia

True confession:  I've never made focaccia before.   To be honest, I've never been great at making any kind of bread but thought I'd give it a try.   I was reading and enjoying Beatrice Ojakangas' great Soup and Bread Cookbook, and saw her recipe for rosemary focaccia.  Plus, I was inspired by a pretty focaccia I saw on the interwebs.  Why not give it a try?

Well, there were quite a few reasons.   First, I didn't have active dry yeast or bread flour; I only had instant yeast and all purpose flour.   Then, I misread the recipe and started with too much water.   So, I had to add much more flour than expected.   Oh well.     But then, miraculously, it seemed to have worked out!  

Rosemary Focaccia (my way)

1 cup AP flour

1 package instant yeast

1 t. salt

1 T. sugar

2 1/2 c warm water (110-120 F)

Mix dry ingredients in a stand mixer, then add water.   Mix until well combined, then add 4-5 cups flour until it forms a soft  sticky dough.   Then add: 

1/4 c olive oil

On a well floured countertop, knead for 15 minutes, adding enough flour until it stops sticking to your hands.    Put it on a greased cookie sheet with sides and let it rise for an hour, or until it's puffy.  Press the dough down and fit it into each corner and cover it with a towel and let it rest for 20 minutes.    Preheat oven to 450 F.  Then, decorate with vegetables!  I had red onion, yellow pepper, green onions, some olives and some celery.

Sprinkle with about 2 teaspoons rosemary and 1 teaspoon kosher salt and drizzle with more olive oil....about 3 tablespoons.   Bake for 25 minutes or so until brown, rotating pan halfway through.

Ta da!!! Fancy focaccia!  I will actually try to make this again, it was super easy.  Except next time, I'll cut the recipe by  25% to make a chewier, more dense bread.  Probably closer to what Beatrice had in mind!